Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta – Day 1 a test for everyone
Day 1: Friday February 13 2026
The NSW ORC Championship opened the 2026 Pantaenius Australia Pittwater Regatta today - a day of light wind and a sloppy seaway under grey skies that caused race officials at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) to hoist the AP and then shorten the offshore courses – a difficult day on the water for officials and competitors alike.
Division 1’s original 27 nautical mile course was shortened by 10 miles and those that handled the conditions best were John Bacon’s Crazy Diamond, the Melges 32 finishing strongly to beat David Hamilton’s Farr 40, Seeking Alpha by a little over 5 minutes.
Such were the conditions that the top two finished streaks ahead of their contemporaries, including third placed LCE Old School, Mark Griffiths’ DK46, which was 17 minutes behind the winner when the handicaps were applied.
“It was dodgy to start with, we were lucky to get a race in,” said Bacon’s tactician, Darren Jones.
The AP went up initially, the midday start postponed, because the breeze was shifting south-east to south-west, and then race officials were made aware there was an easterly up the track.
“The call to AP was a good one, they got it right, but we still had 40 degree shifts,” Jones said.
“It was a pretty fair course that started in 7-8 knots and as we got up the course to top half, it dropped to 5-6 knots for the run back in. We were probably doing eight and a half to 11 knots boat speed on the run home, so it was quite pleasant.”
Shortening course was a good move, especially as it allowed some of the bigger boats at the back end of both divisions to finish in a reasonable time.
“I’d say it was almost a perfect day for a light displacement skinny boat like us,” Jones said. We potentially could have taken line honours – only the 50 footer (Daguet 2, the Mylius 50 owned by Rob Aldis and Peter Byford) beat us home (less than 2 minutes separated them).” Seeking Alpha finished about a minute behind us.”
Jones admitted, “We had the luxury of the breeze softening at top of the course. We were fast in those conditions compared to the bigger boats. We mowed them down quite quickly downwind – that’s when the boat comes into its own.”
The upwind leg went on for two hours in trying conditions, “John was steering and just kept the boat going. The crew praised him and it made my job as tactician a lot easier,” Jones ended.
Division 2 was originally to sail 21nms, but that course was shortened to 16. Last year’s Division 1 winner, Garry Gudmunson’s ID 35, Organised Chaos, took overall honours by nearly five minutes from Simon Grosser’s Young 88, Young at Heart – a past winner of this event. Third went to Neil Padden’s Beneteau First 40.7, Wailea, with a gap of 11 minutes from the winner.
Crazy Diamond - bow up and raring to go. Photo: Andrea Francolini/RPAYC - Day 1- NSW ORC Championship saw Crazy Diamond, skippered by John Bacon, claim first place in Division 1, while Organised Chaos, under Garry Gudmunson, secured the top spot in Division 2
Division 1
- Crazy Diamond / John Bacon
- Seeking Alpha / David Hamilton
- LCE Old School Racing / Mark Griffith
- Daguet 2 / Rob Aldis & Peter Byford
- Pretty Woman / D’Arcy Kemp
- Toybox 2 / Ian Box
- XS Moment / Ray Hudson
- Sticky / Richard Harris
Division 2
- Organised Chaos / Garry Gudmunson
- Justified / Tomas Simpson & Andrew Lygo
- Wailea / Neil Padden
- Young at Heart / Simon Grosser
- KD 4 / Joe de Kock
- Jambo / Rob Carr & Stephanie Cook
- Veloce / Garry Essex
- Local Hero / David Davies
- Georgia Lee / Craig Suggitt
Day 1 - Mr Bacon and Joshua Paulson with RPAYC Commodore Robert McClelland. Photo: RPAYC
Day 1 - Mr Gudmunson and RPAYC Commodore Robert McClelland. Photo: RPAYC
The three-day ORC Championship, supported by Sydney Marine Brokerage, continues with inshore races on Saturday and concludes with Sunday’s offshore windward/leeward races on the Palm Beach Circle. Racing commences from 11.30am both days.
Tomorrow, the full contingent of 86 boats will be out racing on various courses in the ORC Championship, Pittwater Cup, incorporating the Performance 40 division for the first time, along with the ten-strong Super 40 division and the Grand Soleil Yachts Cup. And it’s the much anticipated 5-Heads Challenge, a 20nm race that will have the fleet weaving a course through Pittwater and Broken Bay.
Ashore, the party started with a barbecue, pop up bar and a DJ. From all accounts, due to the fun had last year, some of the crews from visiting boats have chosen to stay at Pittwater this time and enjoy the full entertainment experience over the three day event.
For full results and all information please visit: www.pittwaterregatta.au
Additional photos and a video of Day 1 highlights - The Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta 2026 - Race 1 of the NSW ORC State Championship supported by Sydney Marine Brokerage - Yacht and Boat Sales - run below.
Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta: Crazy conditions – but it worked!
Day 2: Saturday February 14
Crazy conditions and another grey day until the sun appeared as the racing came to an end, but at least the rain held off at the 2026 Pantaenius Australia Pittwater Regatta that opened today, as those competitors in the NSW ORC Championship settled into Day 2 of their competition.
Yachts entered in the three-day ORC Championship, supported by Sydney Marine Brokerage, contested two races on inshore courses today and will switch to offshore windward/leeward races on the Palm Beach Circle for tomorrow’s finale, commencing from 11.30am – should the weather gods decree.
ORC Championship
The ORC fleet waited under an AP flag, as light air prevailed inshore and officials at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) were forced to change the course three times. Patience paid off.
Top three results for Division 1 in Race 2, mirrored those of yesterday’s Race 1, although the corrected times were closer today, with Crazy Diamond (John Bacon) taking the win again from Seeking Alpha (David Hamilton) and LCE Old School Racing (Mark Griffith).
Crazy Diamond and Seeking Alpha topped the scoreboard again in Race 3, while Daguet 2 (Rob Aldis/Peter Byford made their first appearance in the top three with third place. It means Crazy Diamond and Seeking Alpha are at the top of the overall board with a day remaining. They will be hard to topple.
Division 2’s Race 2 replicated two of yesterday’s top three, though in a different order. Justified, Tomas Simpson/Andrew Lygo’s J/111, won after finishing second yesterday, but there was an error at the time, showing Young at Heart in second. Garry Essex’s J/99, Veloce was second and Garry Gudmunson’s Organised Chaos (Race 1 winner) was third.
It swung back Gudmunson’s way in Race 3, giving him the series lead by 6.5 points to Justified. Joe De Kock’s KD4 placed second in Race 3, with third going to last year’s winner, Local Hero (David Davies).
“The morning race was very shifty - 5-10 knots - shifting 5 to 20 degrees. A normal Pittwater crappy easterly,” said local, Gudmunson. “We got on wrong side of some and the right side of others.
“In the second race, we won the start and got the shift we wanted. We played the game and scored the win. The breeze had swung more east and nor’ east by this race at 8-10 knots. It was steadier. Being a Pittwater local, we knew where it was going to come from. My elderly team did a good job, but are all worn out,” Gudmunson declared with a laugh.
Super 40 local showdown
On the same course as the ORC fleet, the Supers suffered the same delay. Michael Ritchie won the opener by over 2 minutes with Revolver, the Ritchie 38 designed by his father, Bruce. Last year’s winner, Ross Hennessy’s Ker 40 Mk3, Condor and Gerry Hatton’s MAT 1220, Bushranger filled out the top three.
Ritchie re-loaded and took the second race from Peter Higgins’ Black Sparrow - which was lucky to make the regatta as Higgins was dependent on a part to arrive in time - and third went to Condor. All place-getters are local boats. Racing concludes tomorrow when it will be on for young and old again.
“It was very tricky, an easterly in Pittwater, and it’s never an easy breeze in Pittwater,” Ritchie confessed. “My dad will be pleased to see we won with our little wooden boat against all the others.
“The Super 40 fleet coming together like this has been really wonderful and the range of boats is fantastic,” he said of the classy field of nine. “I think the racing everyone had today was great. Even though they were passage races, there were passing lanes,” Ritchie, a proponent of the Super 40s said.
“The configuration of boats has changed at this regatta, that’s for sure. It’s really nice to see the Black Sparrow guys here. They’ve only just put their mast in the boat, had little time to tune it, so obviously they have a lot more in them.”
Super 40s showdown at the start. Photo: Andrea Francolini, RPAYC
Pittwater Cup
In unusual circumstances, those taking part in the Pittwater Cup sailed the entire 5 Heads Challenge 20 mile course through Pittwater and Broken Bay under spinnaker. Why? Because the breeze kept shifting,,, and shifting,,, and the pressure was up and down between 8 and 15 knots. It looked as pretty as, with so many coloured kites and a scenic course. Sheer bliss!
Top three were all sailing royalty. Ritchie Allanson, an ex-sailmaking pedigreed Etchells and offshore sailor, took his Newport 9, Ultime to victory from former 18 foot skiff champion, Michael Coxon on his Cole 30, Anitra May. Multiple and current Sydney 38 One-Design NSW titleholder, David Hudson, scored third with Conspiracy.
“We had a wonderful day,” Allanson declared. “We decided to bring the boat up from Sydney because it was a good opportunity to do this regatta.”
A good start evolved into a win, but, as Allanson said, “We had to work on keeping our air clear, then manage our way through the two divisions that started ahead of us. It was a lovely day out. I’ve done very little sailing on the Hawkesbury and found it has more current, so more challenges and more opportunities.
“We’re one of the smallest boats in fleet, at 9 metres, so were particularly pleased with how we went against the larger boats. The Cape 31 (David Ross’ Kukukerchu which finished sixth today) is the closest in performance to our boat, being a similar size.”
For the first time, 86 boats were racing, up on last year’s fleet and taking in the ORC Championship, Pittwater Cup, incorporating the inaugural Performance 40 division, plus Super 40 division and the Grand Soleil Yachts Cup.
Ashore, the party started where it left off last evening, crews again enjoying the nightly prize giving, sponsor giveaways, a barbecue, pop up bar and DJ.
For full results and all information please visit: www.pittwaterregatta.au
The Pittwater Cup fleet did the whole race under spinnaker - magic. Photo: Andrea Francolini, RPAYC
Day 1
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Day 2
Pittwater Cup with a view of the lighthouse. Photo: Andrea Francolini, RPAYC
